Combined excavator and spreader.



0. c. MANN. COMBINED EXCAVATOR AND SPREADER.

Patented Feb; 25, 1919.

v APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4. I9l8.

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0. C. MANN.

COMBINED EXCAVATOR AND SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED FE B. 4 1918.

I III lillllllldrllilflnq Patented Feb. 25,1919.

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0. C. MANN.

COMBINED EXCAVATOR AND SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4. I918.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

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ORVILLE o. MANN, or OAK PARK, ILLINOIS;

COMBINED EXCAVATOR AND SPREADER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

Application filed February 4, 1918. Serial No. 215,394.

elements and features of construction shown and described, as indicated in the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railwaytrack-carried structure embodying this i11- vention comprising a flat car on which the excavator is mounted and which is provided with lateral spreading devices in conjunction with a car ahead of the excavator-carrying car for receiving the material excavated, to be afterward discharged in front of the spreader for being distributed along the sides of the track.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the excavatorcarrying car shown in Fig. 1 with the excavator removed. 7

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a part of the car shown in Fig. 2 with the platform removed to show the structure beneath.

Fig. i is a vertical section at a position corresponding to the line, 4-4, on Fig. 3, but at the opposite side of the car.

Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of a guide standard and contiguous adjacent parts at the side of the car frame for guiding the hinged end of the spreader in its up and down movement.

The flat car upon which the excavator is mounted comprises longitudinal side sills, 1-1, and other longitudinal sills, 22, near the middle of the width of the car, between which at their ends the draw bars are mounted, and which the draw bars engage for propelling the car. Upon the side sills there are mounted by hinge connections hereinafter more specifically referred to, outside spreader wings, l4, one hinged near each end of the car at each side for swinging out obliquely from the car for spreading the excavatedv material or ballast which may be previously dumped upon the road-bed at the sides of the track for that purpose.

-These spreader wings, 4- 1, are braced off from the sides of the car at their working position by braces, 5-5, respectively connected at their outer ends to the inner sides of the wings, and at their inner ends to footing brackets, 6, which are mounted for sliding along the side of the car in slideways, 7, provided for the purpose, and which are provided with means for securing said footings at desired positions in the length of the slide-ways for holding the spreader wing braced ofl from the car at the desired working angle for spreading. The detail construction of these spreader Wings and braces and footings, and the means for operating the same are fully shown and described in my copending application, Serial No. 215,393, filed February 4th, 1918, and further description of the same is not necessary here.- The hinge connections of the spreader wings, 44, to the sides of the car are effected by means of rigid brackets, 88, which are mounted upon the side sills and have slide-Ways, as seen at 8*, in which one member, 9, of the spreader-wing hinge is engaged for sliding up and down, said hinge member being moved up in said slideway by the means employed for lifting the wing out of working position in the process of swinging it inward toward the side of the car, more fully described in my said co-pending application, Serial No. 215,393. The present application has to do with the combination of the car having these outside spreader wings with excavating apparatus mounted upon the car, said excavating apparatus and spreader wings and operating devices for the latter being so related to each other that the presence of the spreader wings and their operating devices on the car does not impede the operation of the excavating devices, and that the excavating devices do not impede the operating of the spreading devices, and with means for operating the spreader wing in withdrawing it out of itsposition-of service up and inward to the side of the car to the position where it is out of service, as is the case when the excavating apparatus is to oe employed for excavating, and depositing the excavated material on the carrying car, 15, ready to be afterward dumped at the side of the track in the path of the spreader wing. From this general descriptive statement it will be understood that the entire organization is excavating along the sides of the, track upon which the apparatus is mounted to run, at points at which such excavation is necessary by reason of the excess of material, and carrying the material excavated along the track to other points whereit is necessary to fill instead of excavate, and there dumping it and'spreading it, so that the entire organization is adapted. for continuous operation for taking material from one point or the trackxwhere'itv is in excess and depositingit and spreading it at another point where it is needed.

A represents the excavating apparatus which is mounted for travel longitudinally on the bed of the car in the customary manner of mountingand usingsuch excavating devices for excavating'along the sides of a railway track, or for widening cuts and the like. The'ditcher-carrying boom 20, of'the excavating apparatus has its foot necessarily positioned at a certain minimum distance above the bed-of the car, being the entire height of the truck, 21, which travels uponthe car bed, plus the additional spaceabove the truck necessary for accommodating the gears, 22; and the boom, therefore, at its lowest operative position for carrying the scoop or ditcher, 24, which is in substantially a horizontal position, must be unimpeded in its horizontal movement by the spreading devicesmounted upon the side of the'car. It is necessary, therefore, in order to carry out the underlying purpose of the invention as above stated, to devise and construct the spreading devices, so that at their highest position when the spreader is folded up against the side of -the car outof service, no part of the spreading devices or their operating devices shall extend higher than said horizontalposition of the boom. his purpose is accomplished by the construction shown consisting in general of a hinge which connects the spreader to the side of the car, mounted for up and-down movement of its inner member in a guide-way provided on the side of the car, the highest point of which is lower than the horizontal position of the boom as above indicated, and connecting the spreader wing for bracing it at its position of work by the braces, 5, which have their ends which are connected to the side of the car'mounted thereon for sliding longitudinally of the'car in the infolding movement of the spreader wing, that is, so that the folding in of the wing toward the side of the car does not involve an upward swinging movement of the free or braced end, as: has been commonly the method of-construction of railway spreaders. (if

' end of'the car, the car being designed for operating "lll tlflVel in either direction, the

end referred to being in either case, therefore, the forward end,an under-car spreading device for spreading the material which may be deposited between the rails, and deflecting to a point outside the rails within the sweep of the outside spreader, any excess beyond what may be required between the rails. This under-car spreading device comprises at the middle of the car a -shaped prow member, 25, rigidly mounted upon the frame-work of the car as hereinafter described, and under-car spreader wings, 27, 27 each continuing in the general direction of the oblique face of the prow with which it is connected, outwardly across the space under the car, and across the rail, substantially to the inner end of the outside spreader wing, said under-car spreader wing being connected at the inner end with the prow, and at the outer end with the inner member of the hinge of the outer wing to the car, with freedom for up-and-down movement at its engagement with the prow, so that it may be raised and lowered with the raising and lowering movement of the outer spreader wing, being carried up and down by the said hinge member of the outer wing to which the outer end of said undercar spreader wing is attached as stated. The prow, 25, is a casting having its forward faces diverging from. an apex at 25, and having a recess, 25", at the upper side including the apex for accommodating the draw-bar and a removable support or lodgment for the draw-bar consisting of a filler, 26, adapted to be inserted in the recess, 25 said prow extending up under the middle sills, 2; and being bolted to the lower flanges of said sills for supporting it in position. At a point a little outside said sills, 2, and back of the diverging faces of the plow, it is provided at each side with a vertical slideway, 25, for receiving a suitably formed terminal, 27 on the inner end of the undercar spreader wing, 27 This spreader wing is preferably formed, as illustrated, with horizontal V-shaped corrugations or ribs, 27", and at its outer end it is formed with. apertured lugs, 27, which correspond lug for lug with the similar lugs, 16, of the member, 16, of the hinge, connecting the outer spreader wing, 4, with the car, said lugs, 27*, being inserted alongside the lugs. 16 of the spreader wing hinge member in the notches of the other member, 9, of the spreader wing hinge, and retained by the pintle rod, 30, which connects the two hinge members and thereby the under-car spreader wing, 27, is adapted to be raised and lowered with the outer spreader wing, 4-, the inner terminal, 27, sliding up and down in the vertical slide-way of the prow in such up and-down movement. To accommodate this sliding movement without danger of cramping, the terminal, 27, is engaged quite loosely in the slide-way, 25 and is further curved at the inner vertical edge, as shown in Fig 2, so as to permit a limited amount of sagging at the inner end without the danger of cramping the joint. 50', 50, are. guard plates hinged at their upper edges to the car platform frame structure and depending in front of ib 6., outward from,-the corrugated wings, 27,27, to prevent material passing over the wings, 27

Forreinforcing or backing up the undercar spreader wing, 27, and further assisting in maintaining the prow, 25, rigidly in working position, there is provided abacking plate, consisting of two channel bars, 14, 14, having their flanges bolted togetherand their webs in the same plane with the channels facing rearward or inward with respect to the car. This plate has its end portions deflected from said plane so as to stand at the inner end directly cross-wise of the car, and at the opposite end at a substantially equal angle to the plane of the web, said deflected ends being bolted respectively to the prow back of the vertical slide-way, 25, and to the bracket, 8, having the slide-way for the member, 9, of the hinge of the outer spreader wing, said bracket being extended below the lower edge of the side sill of the car and deflected inward under said sill to reach a proper position for bolting the under-car spreader backing plates, 14, 14, to it as described, the bracket being provided with lugs 8 and 8, projecting obliquely inward and toward the proximate end of the car from its said downwardly-projected and inwardly-extended end to seat in the channels of said backing plate and to receive the bolts securing the plate to the bracket. The backing plate is further braced by braces, 19 and 19, extending from about the middle of the length of the lower channel in which the ends of the braces are seated andbolted, up obliquely, rearwardly and inwardly to the nearer of the two middle longitudinal sills,

2, of the car.

The purpose of the recess, 25*, in the uper side of theplow at the apex, and of the ler, 26, which occupies said recess is that in case of any accident to the draw bar or its attachments to the car frame, access may be obtained thereto for making repairs without the necessity of removing the plow, but merely by removing the filler, 26, which constitutes the lodgment and support of the draw-bar, and for that purpose is secured in place by a removable bolt, 26

Compressed air devices are employed for operating the spreader wings as will now be descrlbed. I The compressed air container, 30, wh1ch serves the usual air brake system and is supplied by the usual means (not shown) supplies air for operating the piston. (not shown)- in the cylinder, 31, mounted under the car, under control of the operator' by'a valve, 32,- in the air pipe line, 33. The

piston stem, 34, carries a pulley, 35, which engages a loop in the cable, 36, anchored at 37, t0-the car frame and extending over guide pulleys, 38, 39 and 40, on the car frame structure, to the win-g,4, so that upon the instroke of the piston in the cylinder, the'ca ble will be drawn upon to the amount of twice the amount of the intake stroke, and will draw upon the spreader wing for the purpose of both lifting it and swinging it inward toward the side of the car. The inward swing in addition to the upward swing,-apart from the direct upward movement of the hinged end sliding in the vertical guide-way, 8,is controlled by the bracelinks, 5, 5, operating as radius arms about their'pivotal footing against the side of the .car. The'upward swing would be too great to bring the wing against the car at the necessary low position for avoiding obstructing the excavating devices, if the pivotal foot posltion of the brace links on the side of the car remained unchanged during the swinging movement; and it is necessary to provide for moving the pivotal footing of for sliding along the car on a slideway, 7,

and connecting the sliding pivot block, 6, by a cable, 42, with a fixed anchorage at 43, on the side of'the car opposite the heel end of the spreader wing, the cable being intermediately extended over a pulley, 44, at the side of the car and thence down around a pulley, 45, on the spreader wing. The effect of this connection is that the draft of the cable, 36, on the spreader'wing, operating partly for lifting it and partly for drawing it inward, is dlvided in respect to these two actions, the upward stress tending to lift the heel end by sliding in the guide, 8, slacking the cable, 42, while the inward stress, pulling the upper end of the wing inward, causes the links, 5, 5, to push the sliding pivot block, 6, along the car to the extent permitted by the slackwing is against the side of the car, not protruding high enough to interfere with the operation of the excavating devices.

This construction yields an additional re sult in the lowering of the wing to its worlc ing position, namely, that after the wing has been lowered and swung out toward its working position to the limit of the lowering and hoisting cable, 42, the weight causes the wing to drop at the heel, carrying down the pulley, 45, which drawing a loop of the cable, 42, pulls the block, 6, toward the heel pivot of the wing and cause'sthe links, 5, to thrust out the outer end of the wing to its proper working position. The block, 6, has an arm, 6 provided with a plurality of holes for attaching the cable, 42, at different points to vary working position of the wing.

I claim 1. In combination with a car, an excavating device mounted thereon having means for excavating parallel to the trackand depositing the excavated unaterial on a car adjacent on the same track, and a spreading device carried by the first mentioned car in position to operate for spreading in advance of the wheels of said car.

2. In a structure such as defined in claim 1 foregoing, the excavating device being mounted on the car for longitudinal travel there-along, and the spreading devices being positioned out of the path of movement of said excavating devices, either in the movement of the latter along the car or in their movement for excavating.

3. In a structure such as defined by claim 1 foregoing, the excavating devices being mounted for movement along the bedof the car, and thereby adapted for loading the excavated material upon a car adjacent to the excavator car at either end of the latter on the same track, the spreading devices being duplicated at the opposite ends of the excavator-carrying car for performing their spreading function in advance'of the wheels of said car in whichever direction said car is moved over the track.

4:. In combination with a car and anexcavating device mounted for longitudinal travel on the bed of the car, and comprising a derrick and boom for carrying a ditching device for excavating parallel to the track at a distance therefrom and adapted for depositing the excavated material upon a car ahead; a spreading device comprising a wing hinged to the car on which the excavating mechanism is carried, and means by which the wing is operated for swinging it out from the car and folding in against the side of the same, said wing and operating mechanism being at all positions, both'in service and out of service, comprised in a space below the path of the boom at the lowest position of the latter.

In combination with a car and an excavating device mounted for longitudinal travel on the bed of the car, and comprising a derrick and boom for carrying a ditching device; an excavating device for excavating parallel to the track at a distance therefrom, and for depositing theexcavated material upon a car ahead; ajspreading device com-prising a wing hinged to ,the'car on which the excavating mechanism is carried; and means by which thewing is operated for swinging out from the car and folding in against the side of the same, said wing and operating devices being at all positions in service and out of service comprised with in a space outside the vertical side lines of the car.

6. In combination with a car, a spread-ing device comprising a Wing hinged vertically to one side of the car near one end thereof, the hinge being mounted'for up and down movement on the car, and a supple mental under-car spreader mounted at one end by means of one of the hinge members, and means at the other end for guiding it on the car frame in up-and-down movement.

7. In combination with a flat car; a spreading device comprising a wing hinged at one end to one side of the car; a vertical slide-way on the car for the hinge; a supplemental under-car spreader, having one end connected to the wing hinge for up-anddown movement therewith, and means on the car frame for engaging the other end with freedom for up-and-down movement.

8. In combination with a car, an undercar spreading device positioned under the end portion of the car and extending obliquely under the corner portion of the car; meansrigid with the car frame structure for engaging its inner end adapted .to permit up-and-down movement of said spreader, the outer end of the spreader being extended out past the side of the car, and means on the outer side of the car with which said outer end of the spreader is engaged for up-and-down movement.

9. In combination with a car having longitudinal side and middle sills an under-car spreading device comprising a V shaped prow mounted on the middle sill, and having at the side a vertical way for loose engagement of an under-car spreading wing; a fixed member mounted on the side sill having a vertical slideway, and an under-car spreading wing carrying at its opposite vertical edges means or engaging said vertical ways on the prow and on the side sill respectively for up-and-dow-n sliding of the under-car wing.

10. In combination with a car having 1ongitudinal side and middle sills; an under-car spreading device comprising a V-shaped prow mounted on the middle sill, having at the side a vertical slide-way for loose engagement of an under-car spreading wing; a bracket mounted on the side sill, having at the outer side a. vertical slide-way; a-sl-iding member engaged in'said vertical slide-way for up-and-down movement, and an undercar spreading Wing having at its opposite verticaledges means respectively for engaging the vertical slide-way of the prow, and for connection with the said sliding member.

11. In combination with a carhavinglongitudinalside andmiddle sills; an-under-car spreading device comprising a V- shaped prow mounted on the middle sill; a brace plate extending obliquely back from said prow to the side sill, said prow having at the side forward of the brace plate avertical slide-Way for loose engagement of an under-car spreading wing; a bracket mounted on the side sill having a vertical slideway, and an under-car spreading wing having at its opposite vertical edges means for engaging said slide-Ways respectively.

12. In combination with a car having longitudinal side and middle sills; a rigid bracket on one side sill having a vertical slide-way; an outside spreader Wing, and a hinge by which it is mounted upon said bracket with the inner member of the hinge engaged for sliding up and down in said slide-way; an under-car spreading device comprising a fixed central prow having at the side a vertical slide-way for loose engagement of an under-car spreading wing,

and such under-car spreading wing having at its opposite vertical edges means for engaging respectively the slide-way of the prow and the sliding hinge member of the outside spreader wing.

13. In combination with a car having longitudinal middle sills between which the draw-bar extends and to which it is secured; a fixed V-shaped prow carried by said sills having a recess in the upper side at the apex for accommodating the draw -bar, said recess being extended down below the drawbar a distance in excess of the vertical dimension of the draw-bar; a filler in said recess below the draw-bar, and means for releasably securing said filler in the recess.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Chicago, Illinois, this 31st day of January, 1918.

ORVILLE G. MANN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

